Stella loved using her body to its best abilities. Shifting and running felt like the very pinnacle of existence, sometimes, like there was nothing more to strive for than the burn of exertion, the panting of breath, the sharp quality of the air around them. It felt transcendent.
And doing it with her daughter beside her was even better.
They reached the tree line in a panting rush, and flopped down on the rocks together to catch their breath. Then Eva wanted to explore.
Stella smiled to herself and settled in for a wonderful evening.
***
It was hours later, the sun below the horizon and the stars beginning to come out, when they got back to the edge of the Park. Eva had shifted to human a ways back, because she wanted to talk about all the things they'd seen.
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“And the smells, Mom—it's so weird how the smells are totally different when you're shifted, isn't it? I don't even have words to talk about what things smell like as a lynx. I wonder if anyone's written any of this stuff down. Hey Mom, do you know if anyone's written any—”
“Stella.”
Eva stopped talking with a little gasp. They were almost at the house; Stella could see it now, about half a mile off. And coming out of the trees right next to them was Todd.
“I told you to stop this,” Stella said, as steadily as she could. She kept walking. It wasn't like Todd didn't know where they lived, and the closer she could get to the house, the more comfortable she'd be.
“I can't, Stella,” Todd said, almost sadly. “I just can't.”
Stella hadn't expected any other answer. It had been over a month now, and Todd hadn't listened anytime she'd told him to get the hell away. He didn't seem capable of listening to anything that came out of her mouth. She'd been expecting him to show up at the house for a while now, and she'd been dreading it.
Yesterday, she'd even swallowed her pride and told Lynn that it was probably time to call up Ken's friend with the security agency. Any consideration of pride and independence had run out. She just wanted it to stop.
Eva had sidled up next to Stella's side, eyeing Todd suspiciously. “Stop what?” she asked. “Have you been bothering my mom?”
The hint of protectiveness in Eva's voice made Stella's chest hurt. Eva shouldn't be protective of her. “It's not a problem, honey,” she told Eva. “He's just been a little annoying, that's all.”
“Annoying?” Todd came towards them, anger starting to show through.
Maybe that had been a mistake.
“After what we had, you're calling me annoying? I love you, and that's annoying?” His voice rose. “What sort of heartless—”
“Stop this, Todd!” Stella said sharply, speeding up and tugging Eva after her. “I told you to leave!”
“I'm not leaving.” He was staring at Stella with a disturbing intensity. “You chase me off, I'll just come back.” He came closer.
Stella didn't want to run, because she was sure that he'd just chase them, and she didn't want to take the chance that he might be faster. She sped up, but stayed at a walk, keeping herself between Todd and Eva. “Please just go.”
“The lady told you to go.”
There was a frozen moment as everyone processed the sound of a new voice.
A man stepped out from the darkened forest. He was tall and broad, and moved with a casual grace that suggested he was either an athlete or a shifter. Or both. His features were strong and his expression was grim.
“Um,” Stella said. “Hello.”
He turned to her and gave a serious look. “Are you all right, miss?”
He had a Southern accent. No one around here had a Southern accent—they were practically at the Canadian border.
“Yes. Thank you,” Stella said faintly.
The man had turned back to Todd, and his voice hardened again. “I won't tell you again. The lady told you to go, so it's time for you to go.”